School-wide Suicide Prevention Program Cuts Teen Risk in Half

After participating in a prevention program at school, European teenagers were about half as likely to attempt suicide or to feel suicidal, according to a new study involving 11,000 students and published in The Lancet.

Reuters reports that the most successful program out of the three tested, called Youth Aware of Mental Health, targeted the students with lectures, role-playing exercises and education about mental health and suicide risk.

Afterward, students likely “felt that the power of mastering their feelings, coping with stress and choosing solutions was in their hands and not decided or forced by adults,” said a Swedish psychiatry professor involved.